Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Protara Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TARA)

Protara Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:TARA) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 5,005 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,597% compared to the typical volume of 295 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TARA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Protara Therapeutics from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Protara Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Protara Therapeutics from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Protara Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Protara Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.50.

Protara Therapeutics Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:TARA traded down $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $5.13. The stock had a trading volume of 902,503 shares, compared to its average volume of 948,495. Protara Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $2.77 and a 52 week high of $7.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $282.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.84 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.70.

Protara Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TARA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.31) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.36) by $0.05. On average, analysts forecast that Protara Therapeutics will post -1.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Protara Therapeutics

In other Protara Therapeutics news, insider Jacqueline Zummo sold 22,598 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.26, for a total value of $118,865.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 95,961 shares in the company, valued at $504,754.86. This represents a 19.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Walleye Capital LLC grew its stake in Protara Therapeutics by 204.0% in the 1st quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 443,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,310,000 after buying an additional 297,525 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Protara Therapeutics by 133.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 531,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,767,000 after buying an additional 304,110 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Protara Therapeutics by 38.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 129,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 36,149 shares during the last quarter. AIGH Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Protara Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $8,454,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Protara Therapeutics by 84.1% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 567,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,957,000 after buying an additional 259,287 shares during the last quarter. 38.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Protara Therapeutics Company Profile

Protara Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel immunotherapies for virus-driven cancers. The company’s primary areas of research include human papillomavirus (HPV)–associated malignancies, where it seeks to harness and enhance the body’s immune response to target tumor cells. Protara’s therapeutic strategy combines antigen-specific vaccination approaches with modulators of T-cell activation to improve clinical outcomes in patients with HPV-mediated disease.

Protara’s lead immunotherapy candidate is PTX-35, an investigational monoclonal antibody designed to agonize OX40, a co-stimulatory receptor on T cells.